Choral concert marks holiday and milestone for director
When the Henderson Community Chorus presents its fall concert Friday at Henderson Fine Arts Center, the program will be a celebration of two things.
The first is chorus conductor Heather McCormick's 20th year leading the group, which rehearses weekly during the school year on the campus of Henderson Community College.
The other is the Christmas season, and, indeed, the program is titled "Christmas Memories."
The two things are firmly intertwined in McCormick's memory banks starting with her mission to revive the chorus when she was first hired as the full-time music instructor at Henderson Community College.
"My first year stands out for me, as I guess first years tend to do," she said. "We performed the Christmas section of 'Messiah' at Audubon Baptist Church with a small orchestra and the church filled to overflowing. What an exciting way to begin our choral journey."
At another Christmas program, family groups were featured, she recalled, including the Norments, the Books, the "Griffin Sisters" and the Nunns.
"My family was also featured (husband Pat, children Seth and Kate and mother Mary Ann McClure Blackwell), playing a Christmas medley on piano with ever-changing hands on the keyboard," McCormick said. "One person would scoot off the end of the piano bench while another began playing at the other end of the keyboard. It's a great memory."
In those days, her mother was the accompanist for the group, which she said was another wonderful part of her Community Chorus experience.
"That was a very special thing for both of us, having the opportunity to work together on big musical projects," she said.
McCormick said the Community Chorus was originally founded in 1962 and had several directors over the years, but had been in limbo for about eight years when she took the challenge to resurrect it.
It was a "happy" part of her new job, she said.
"For a relatively small town, Henderson is blessed with an abundance of musical and artistic talent. The Community Chorus is the only long-term choral opportunity (other than church choirs) in town," she said.
"In comparison, Owensboro has the Owensboro Symphony Chorus, Choral Society and Community College Chorus," McCormick continued. "There is such a wealth of magnificent music out there for choruses, and I want to stick around long enough to sing some of it and share the experience with my choral singers."
For Friday's concert McCormick has selected a number of favorite pieces from past Christmas concerts.
"Three of the 'old' pieces were chosen because they are all-time hits for the chorus -- challenging and beautiful every time they are revisited: "What Sweeter Music," "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from Messiah and a John Rutter arrangement of "Silent Night," McCormick said. "The other 'oldies' are included because they are familiar and fun, both to sing and to hear, including 'I Heard the Bells' and a rather funny little ditty, 'Monotone Angel'."
But there's also some music that will be less familiar to the chorus' regular concert-goers.
"The new music includes both classical pieces, like 'Hodie' - a modern, rhythmic setting of a traditional Latin text, and arrangements of favorites, like 'Angelic Christmas Fanfare' - a great new setting of 'Angels We Have Heard on High'," the choral director said.
She described the concert as a blend of traditional, classical pieces and more contemporary, and of sacred and secular. Soloists include Diane Watkins, Kyle Arnett, Mike Nation and Ryan Peters. Several ensembles also will be featured.
Preparing those favorite songs from the past has been a pleasant trip down memory lane.
"There are a few (singers) who have been singing with me the entire 20 years -- Terry Green, who's been singing in every community chorus since her high school days, and Martha and Arthur Kasey, plus quite a few who've sung with me at least 18 of the 20 years," McCormick said. "It's been fun to sing them again."
